National Basketball Association finals Game 4: Golden State Warriors v Cleveland Cavaliers

He needed a change, and wanted a chance to win the championship that had eluded him.

The Warriors could very well win this game to complete the sweep.

Both teams, James stressed, played by the rules.

A series that appeared to be headed for a quick conclusion is California bound for Game 5 on Monday night. With the Warriors at the doorstep of capturing a title, Durant seems ready to break the door down. Golden State clawed within seven, but then the Warriors began fouling and Kerr got nailed with his technical - one of seven in the game. We'll get him out, get him right back in. But some do. He knew, you knew, we all knew the moment Durant left Oklahoma for Oakland that the 2016-17 National Basketball Association season was going to need more than Steve Kerr's bad back and Andre Iguodala's achy knees to not follow a predetermined script.

And James has once again been criticized for not being more aggressive late in Game 3, when he made a pass to Kyle Korver. Just like past year, the NBA Finals are at 3-1 after four games.

"It would be great to own a piece of history", Warriors guard Klay Thompson said.

"It took a while for it to kind of reveal itself consistently as the regular season went on, but once it clicked and the habits started to become second nature, it was kind of lovely to watch and an fantastic kind of style to play and watch unfold", Curry said. But really no one could have envisioned this kind of sheer dominance. He said all the right things, but deep down, I couldn't help but think that he was already moving on to next season in his mind.

"We knew how good he was, but just how clutch he's been, how many big shots he's hit for us", Warriors' coach Steve Kerr said of what has impressed him about Durant this series.

Jefferson said the same sentiment applies to "three or four" teams in the league, including the Spurs.

The Cavs jumped off to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter before exploding for a Finals record quarter total of 49 points on Friday night.

But until the Cavs did it a year ago, no team had ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. They are now down 0-3 to the Golden State Warriors.

Durant was widely criticized past year when he left Oklahoma City for Golden State, chided for trying to take the easiest route to a title by joining what was already a stacked team. But winning cures everything.

If the Cavaliers can orchestrate another comeback they would become the first repeat champions since the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

When James finally won his first ring, beating Durant and the Thunder in 2012, most of the criticism went away.

And although he's on the cusp of being swept in the Finals - for the second time - by a team unequalled in today's game, James isn't envious of the Warriors for building a super power in sneakers.

In addition, the Warriors have not lost a game since April 10. They've won 30 of their last 31 games dating back to the regular season.

CLEVELAND - When Steve Kerr announced April 21 that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from the bench, his goal was clear: find an answer to the chronic pain that has plagued him for nearly two years. "But we have done a good job of bouncing back and being resilient all year". We're experienced now. We're better. We're more talented with KD obviously. I should have played much better.